Gravity on the Road Lowerlevel_P01

My family is headed to Nashville for Thanksgiving dinner. Every year, we go to one of Mom’s relative’s houses. Last year, we flew to California. Even though it was a long flight, five hours in a plane is way better than twelve hours in a car with my little sister! We are driving to Tennessee, so I have to sit in the backseat with her. It’s going to be a long drive!

One nice thing about Tennessee is the scenery. I am used to the flat landscape of Florida, so the mountains in Tennessee seem really huge.

We drive up steep mountains and then back down the other side. The roads widen to three lanes as we drive. They are really steep. The signs say ‘Slow Lane Ahead’ to alert drivers of the extra lane. The big 18-wheel semi-trucks are usually in the ‘Slow Lane’ as they lumber up the hills. Their engines struggle to pull all that weight up the hill. Our car is pulling a large trailer, so Dad pulls into the slow lane as we travel up the steepest hills.

“Fighting gravity and winning,” Dad proclaims. I just shake my head. I know better than to ask what he means. It usually results in a long lecture about a Science concept. Sometimes it’s really interesting, but right now I just want to play my handheld video game. I hope Dad doesn’t go into teaching mode. I realize my dad can’t help it.

My dad is a professor of Astrophysics. He works at a university in our city. He knows a lot about Science and he loves to share.